Responding to a Paris-Beijing Arms Axis

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France's recent overture to China as a
prospective member of a Paris-led multi-national alignment against
the United States and its European Allies should be met with a
swift and stern response, as well as a re-assessment of standing
defense and trade agreements with those who would boost Beijing's
military capabilities.

France's Overture to ChinaAt a June 30 news conference in
Beijing, French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said France
would urge the European Union to relax its restrictions on exports
of arms and military technology to China that were linked to
Beijing's suppression of the 1989 Tiananmen democracy
movement.

Her comments came just before a meeting
with Chinese strongman Jiang Zemin, chairman of China's Central
Military Commission, who praised Alliot-Marie's idea and said
together with France, China would "work for a new international
order" (i.e., a global political structure that would challenge
American preeminence).

The French defense minister also said
France will seek more interaction between top Chinese and French
military commanders, exchanges between their military academies,
and observers at each other's military exercises. She added that
France would seek cooperation in non-combat aerospace projects such
as joint development of helicopters.

A Paris-Beijing alignment is not
surprising. The Iraq debate in the U.N. led to a major realignment
of European powers into two distinct camps; the French-led
Paris-Berlin-Moscow axis against the pro-American
London-Rome-Madrid-Warsaw entente. The French are adept at playing
global power games without necessarily possessing global
power.

This latest overture by the French
Defense Minister is another step in Paris's attempt to forge a
global French-led counter-American coalition, this time to include
China. Sino-French arms cooperation of the sort proposed by
Minister Alliot-Marie would undermine U.S. interests in the Western
Pacific and the security of our allies and friends in the region
that are in the shadow of China's growing military
power.

China as a Rising Threat

For its part, China hopes to build on
the Paris-Moscow-Berlin axis in an effort to counter Washington's
growing international influence. The prospect of the declining
powers of "Old Europe" joining with China, the rising military
power in Asia, should disturb Washington's policy-makers. Given
China's stepped-up missile deployments on the Taiwan Strait, its
increased patrols in the South China Sea, and its regular
harassment of American naval aircraft and ships in international
waters, China is clearly becoming more aggressive, not
less.

And in view of China's provision of
military hardware, components and technology to rogue states such
as Iran, North Korea, Syria, Libya and Burma, France's desire to
sell China arms is reckless. Moreover, China is building its own
military into Asia's strongest with massive purchases of advanced
jet fighters, submarines, destroyers, missiles and heavy-lift
rocket technology from Russia. China's estimated annual defense
budget is now on the order of $65 billion, making it the
second-largest military spender in the world after the United
States.

What Congress and
the Administration Should Do

France's
newfound friend in Beijing and its ostensible promise to arm China
is a direct challenge to the United States and peace and stability
in the Pacific that cannot go unaddressed. If France decides to go
forward with military equipment and technology cooperation with
China, the Administration and Congress should:

Remind both France and the European
Union of America's strategic concernsregarding the provision of military
equipment to China and caution all parties against actions that
directly or indirectly threaten U.S. forces, friends, and allies in
the region.

Immediately cease direct bilateral
missile-defense cooperation with Franceand any European missile defense partner
that relaxes export bans on military technology to
China.

Complete the "comprehensive assessment"
of the effectiveness of U.S. defense trade policiesbegun in November 2002. The
Administration must ensure that those policies continue to maintain
America's technological and war-fighting advantages over its
potential adversaries, while facilitating friends' and allies'
efforts to increase capability and interoperability.

Reexamine U.S. export licensing
policiesfor defense
technology and equipment to countries that sell arms to
China.